Gulf

1. UAE halts trade with Iran
2. Conflict stalls contracts
3. Aramco-Maaden copper JV
4. DP World revamps Tartous
5. Dubai’s airport express

UAE missile alert disrupts a terror case 26 years in the making.

UAE cuts trade ties with Iran

The UAE abruptly cut commercial ties with Iran on Tuesday night shortly after reporting that two Iranian missiles had been launched toward its territory, sparking alerts in Dubai and Sharjah. The dangers may have been overstated — Abu Dhabi later clarified that the missiles had targeted ships and both fell into the sea — and it is unclear how much has tangibly shifted: One analyst noted that Iranian flights were still landing in Dubai and shipping traffic was unchanged.

Still, the renewed tensions dent the UAE’s quiet reengagement with Iran; the extent of commercial ties between the two remains opaque and reports on them have prompted rebuttals from senior Emiratis.

Meanwhile, the prospect of the conflict ending soon looks remote. US President Donald Trump, who spoke with his UAE counterpart Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Tuesday, said there were “no talks or conversations going on, or scheduled.” Few ships are daring to cross the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices have edged above $92 a barrel.

Gulf real estate strained

More pressure points are emerging in the Gulf’s once booming real estate sector. London-listed Dar Global’s CEO said the company made advance payments to contractors that need cash to keep construction sites running. The firm also said the days of off-plan development may be numbered, with buyers increasingly balking at paying a large proportion of the sale price before their building is finished.

Meanwhile, monthly contract awards across the region, which averaged $32 billion before the war in Iran, have been running as much as 50% below that level in the months since, according to MEED Projects data cited by AGBI. The slowdown has been concentrated in privately financed projects, but some state-funded work has accelerated — Dubai is pressing ahead with its Gold Line metro expansion, for example.

Digging dream team

Saudi Arabia’s state-owned mining company Maaden is tapping oil giant Aramco for technical expertise as it accelerates efforts to survey the kingdom for copper, zinc, and other minerals crucial to the energy transition. The two firms have formalized a joint venture that will combine Aramco’s geospatial data with Maaden’s mining expertise to explore about one-tenth of Saudi Arabia’s land. The partnership, first unveiled in January 2025, is expected to be owned 51% by Maaden and 49% by Aramco.

Companies are pouring in to search the kingdom: In 2020, there were just six exploration firms registered. That had risen to more than 225 by 2024, according to Enterprise AM. Saudi Arabia estimates it has some $2.5 trillion worth of mineral resources, but extracting even a fraction of those and making them commercially available will be a long process.

DP World pushes ahead with Syria port

DP World is pushing ahead with an $800 million redevelopment of Syria’s Mediterranean port of Tartous, the latest evidence of the country attracting much-needed capital from the Gulf. The Dubai-based port operator has delivered three mobile cranes that will increase Tartous’ cargo handling capacity by 40%.

In the past two months, Qatar’s Power International Holding has also begun work on revamping Damascus airport and has pledged $250 million for Syrian Airlines to acquire a fleet of Airbus A320 aircraft, while Dubai developer Mohamed Alabbar announced plans for real estate developments worth $20 billion, including homes, resorts, and schools. The Iran war elevated Syria’s importance as a potential corridor for Gulf trade and data cables — regional countries are hoping their economic and diplomatic support will also weaken Iranian influence in the Levant.

Airport express for Dubai

Dubai is planning to lay tracks connecting its two aviation hubs, as authorities plan to relocate traffic from Dubai International Airport to a larger site in the south of the city by 2032. The Roads and Transport Authority announced a shortlist of six bidders to design and build the Airport Express Line, connecting the old airport to the new Al Maktoum International. The project is in addition to a high-speed Etihad Rail line connecting Dubai with Abu Dhabi, which will have stops at Al Maktoum and the capital’s Zayed International Airport too. Dubai’s new airport, which will have triple the capacity of Dubai International once complete, is already accelerating activity along the otherwise sleepy corridor connecting the two emirates.

Checking In

• Riyadh’s King Khalid International Airport is piloting a “silent airport” program in its international Terminal 5, limiting voice announcements to departure gates and moving flight information to screens. The project echoes major hubs worldwide that have cut terminal noise. — Al-Eqtisadiah

Tourism

• Domestic travel is keeping Ras Al Khaimah’s tourism sector alive. The emirate drew a record 670,000 visitors in the first half of 2026, with short domestic trips increasing while overall hotel occupancy fell. The number of European guests has dropped nearly 90% since the Iran war began. — AGBI

Diplomacy

• Qatar has again denied Iran’s claim that it is holding three military pilots whose planes were shot down over Doha in March, calling the accusation baseless and saying one pilot’s remains were handed to an Iranian delegation in April. Tehran took the case to the Red Cross, saying the men have been held incommunicado for six months. — Al Jazeera

Tech

• Qatar’s first independent venture capital firm Rasmal Ventures is betting on startups from East Asia and Turkey over Silicon Valley, saying the same quality of tech comes at lower valuations outside the saturated US market. — AGBI

Phones in Dubai and Sharjah buzzed with an unwelcome reminder of war on Tuesday, with a warning of Iranian missiles. Some 8,000 miles away, at the US naval base in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the alert also interrupted testimony in the trial of Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, the alleged Saudi bomber of the USS Cole. Hearings over the al-Qaida attack on the US warship in Yemen’s port of Aden in 2000 that claimed the lives of 17 sailors have already suffered numerous delays. Tuesday offered another hitch as Aimen Dean, a former al-Qaida member who defected, was testifying via a video link from the US consulate in Dubai.

Mid-flow, he was whisked away by an FBI agent. “I’m sorry, we have a missile alert; we have to go to a safe place,” the agent remarked, according to The New York Times. The interruption didn’t last long and the trial resumed. The case has been on US President Donald Trump’s mind, too: He recently demanded compensation from Iran for the deaths of US soldiers, including those killed on the USS Cole — though Iran is not thought to have had any involvement in the attack.